Chapter 294: Pillow Fight
"Eh?!"
The two bandits were horrified. Their hope, Boss Dabon, had been defeated just like that. Despair washed over them.
"This side is cleared too."
Erza walked over, dragging another unconscious bandit.
"As expected of Erza!"
Lucy gave her a thumbs up.
Hearing their conversation, one of the conscious bandits tried to crawl away stealthily, hoping to put as much distance between himself and these monsters as possible.
"Hmph! Don't think you can escape!"
Erza spotted him immediately. She leaped into the air and kicked the bandit.
"Looks like the punishment wasn't enough!"
Erza stomped on the bandit's butt, her tone severe.
"MOOOO! Ms. Erza! Please punish me too!"
Taurus snorted steam, staring at Erza's back with excitement.
"Forced Closure! Heave-ho! Whoa!"
Lucy hurriedly pulled out Taurus's key to force his gate closed. An instant later, a gust of wind from Noah's punch tore past where Taurus had been standing, punching through several walls.
"He got lucky."
Noah retracted his fist. Lucy wiped cold sweat from her forehead.
"Noah... were you actually trying to hurt him?"
"No. I calculated the force perfectly. That punch would only have seriously injured him. I tested it many times in the Spirit World. Besides, spirits heal quickly in their own world, so don't worry."
"Ah... haha..."
Lucy laughed awkwardly. Just how many times did you beat up Taurus in the Spirit World to calculate that force so precisely?
"Finished earlier than expected!" Erza smiled at the group.
"WOAAHH! Let's go wild! I haven't had enough fun yet!" Natsu shouted, clearly unsatisfied.
"You've gone wild enough," Gray said, exasperated.
Noah glanced behind Gray. Sure enough, Juvia was crouching nearby, watching them.
"Lucy, look at this gem!" Happy held up a large jewel.
"Wah! You can't just take that!" Lucy panicked. That was stolen goods!
" since we booked the inn for an extra day and this is a relaxing village, why don't we stay the night before heading back?" Erza suggested.
Noah nodded. "True. Balsam Village is a tourist spot, and the hot springs are nice. Staying here tonight can be a reward for our week with the theater troupe."
Since Noah agreed, no one objected. They had earned a nice bonus from the theater's revenue share, so they could afford to relax.
"Hm? Isn't that Loke over there?" Happy pointed at a figure in the distance.
"It is Loke," Noah confirmed.
"What a coincidence!"
"Are you working nearby too?"
Gray and Natsu walked over to him. Loke looked surprised. "Yeah. You guys too? Ah! Lucy!"
Seeing Lucy approaching behind them, Loke panicked.
"Loke, you're here too..."
Lucy started to greet him, but Loke interrupted. "Uh, I still have work to do! Gotta go!"
He turned and ran away.
"What was that?!" Lucy fumed, watching him flee.
Noah watched Loke's retreating figure. His aura was even weaker than before. He wouldn't last much longer.
"Did you do something to him? He's avoiding you like the plague," Gray asked Lucy, puzzled.
"He seems pretty scared of you," Natsu added.
"I didn't do anything!!!" Lucy shouted indignantly.
"I remember Noah said he knew something about Loke," Gray turned to Noah.
Noah nodded. "I do. But to solve his problem, we'll need Lucy."
"Me?" Lucy looked confused. She felt a strange familiarity with Loke, but she couldn't recall ever interacting with him before joining the guild.
"I can't go into details, but I think you'll need this."
Noah pulled out a silver key.
"The Crux key?" Lucy looked at it in surprise.
"Yes. You'll need Grandpa Crux. I'll lend him to you for a few days. I've already spoken to him; he'll help you."
Lucy took the key, puzzled. Since Noah said so, she accepted it, planning to figure it out later.
After handing over the bandits to the authorities, the group returned to the inn.
They enjoyed the hot springs, washing away their fatigue.
When they regrouped, Noah saw Lucy still looked conflicted, likely thinking about Loke. He didn't say anything more; she needed to figure it out herself.
Back in their shared room, Natsu, wearing a yukata, hugged two pillows excitedly.
"Let's start!"
"Aye!" Happy mimicked him, balancing a pillow on his head.
"Start what? You're noisy. I want to sleep," Gray grumbled from his futon.
"Hey! Look! We're at an inn! An inn! Staying overnight at an inn means we have to have a pillow fight!"
Natsu was hyped. They had gone straight to bed the previous night because of the mission, but tonight was for fun.
"It's called throwing pillows, not fighting them!" Gray retorted, sitting up.
"Heh... I have all the high-quality pillows. You have no chance of winning!"
Erza, also in a yukata, stood with an armful of pillows, looking intense.
"Why bring quality into this..." Lucy sweatdropped.
"A pillow fight? Sounds fun. I'm in," Noah said, grabbing a pillow in each hand with a smile.
"I'm gonna beat Erza and Noah!"
Natsu threw his two pillows at them immediately.
"Thanks."
Noah sidestepped the pillow aimed at him and caught it easily.
"Naïve!"
Erza jumped, dodging Natsu's pillow, which sailed past her and smacked the unsuspecting Gray in the face.
"Natsu, you bastard!"
Gray jumped up. His yukata was already half-off.
"Oh! Pillows just appeared here!"
Gray looked delighted to find a pile of pillows suddenly next to him.
Hearing this, Noah caught a pillow Erza threw at him and glanced over at Gray.
Sure enough, outside the window, hiding behind a decorative rock, Juvia was hugging a pillow and watching Gray's back with a flushed face.
Noah's mouth twitched. Ignoring her, he threw his pillow, knocking Natsu into the air.
"OOOOH!"
Gray grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Natsu, who had just landed.
"Gah!"
The pillow hit Natsu square in the face, sending him flying again.
"Next is Erza!"
Gray threw another pillow at Erza with full force.
"Not bad!"
Erza caught it one-handed.
"And finally, Noah!"
Gray threw a pillow at Noah.
"Me too!"
Erza joined in, throwing a pillow at Noah from the other side.
"Yeah! Get Noah!"
Natsu, face red from the impact, excitedly threw his pillow at Noah too.
"Wow, ganging up on me?"
Noah caught two pillows simultaneously and jumped over the third.
The third pillow—Natsu's—flew under Noah's feet and hit Gray.
"Natsu, you jerk!"
Gray grabbed another pillow from his magically replenished stash and threw it back.
"Hahahaha! Alright, I'm joining too!"
Seeing everyone having fun, Lucy rolled up her sleeves.
Suddenly, three pillows slammed into her at high speed. Before she could react, the impact launched her through the paper door and out of the room.
"N-Never mind... this could be fatal..."
Lucy groaned from the hallway. The impact hurt. She hadn't expected a pillow fight to be this violent.
"RAAAHH!"
"HAAA!"
"ORYA!"
"YAAAH!"
Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy roared as they hurled pillows at each other.
Noah glanced at Lucy, confirming she was dizzy but okay.
He dodged another pillow and threw one back, sending Gray flying.
Satisfied Lucy was safe, Noah focused back on the battle. Erza had thrown several heavy shots at him; it was time to return the favor.
~~~
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